Live Reviews

The Dixie Dregs Lincoln Theatre Washington, DC March 7, 2018Back in the 1970s, many aspiring young guitarists yearned to play like Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page or Jimi Hendrix, but truly inspired musicians wanted to be as good as John McLaughlin or Steve Morse of the Dixie Dregs (later just The Dregs). While the Mahavishnu Orchestra and Return To Forever defined guitar driven jazz rock fusion with an emphasis on jazz, the Dregs leaned more on the rock side, ...

The Dixie Dregs Scottish Rite Auditorium Collingswood, NJ March 9, 2018 They've always remained one of the most under-the-radar of fusion bands. The Dixie Dregs' every-damn-thing-at-once musical stew could have hardly been better designed to elude widespread exposure--too much jazzy complexity for a group of rockers, too much country and folk for a jazz combo, a tinge more classical than either, all without any singing to grab the ears of radio (bar a couple exceptions ...

Bruselas Flamenco Festival Bozar Brussels, Belgium February 28-March 3, 2018 In its second year, the Bruselas Flamenco Festival stretches outwards geographically, and backwards in time, to highlight the roots of the form, rather than presenting what many folks would deem the mainline of this music. In fact, not so much of the festival's four-day programme could be called 'straight' flamenco, as the artists presented also embraced the sounds of Turkey, the north ...

Kyle Taylor Parker The Green Room 42 The Soul Session New York, NY March 11, 2018 Kyle Taylor Parker made a splash when he replaced Billy Porter as Lola in the Broadway hit Kinky Boots. Since jumping into the deep end of musical theater, however, he has never forgotten the even deeper roots that gave creative purchase to his crisp, clarion voice in the first place. I think in Broadway lyrics, but ...

Festival International de Jazz de Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince, Haiti January 20-27, 2018 For the 12th edition the Festival International de Jazz de Port-au-Prince (PAPJAZZ for short, which will be used to refer to the festival going forward, as well as introducing a new logo) returned to its usual schedule at the end of January. This is supposed to be the dry season, but more on that later. As always the character of the festival was significantly influenced ...

Simon H. Fell, Mark Wastell, Alex WardDerek Bailey // Three Presences Cafe OtoLondon March 2, 2018 Many people will have done a double-take upon seeing this evening in the Café Oto programme. Over twelve years after the much-loved guitarist Derek Bailey died on Christmas Day 2005, he seemed to be listed as appearing at the venue. On reading the small print, it became clear that the trio IST (bassist Simon H. Fell, cellist Mark ...

Joe Gransden & Kenny Banks The Jazz Corner Hilton Head Island, SCFebruary 2, 2018 Joe Gransden returned to The Jazz Corner on Hilton Head-Jazz Island February second and third, accompanied by pianist/composer Kenny Banks. Gransden is well-known on the island for his sixteen-piece big band performances, but there was a special intimacy to this performance with just a piano accompaniment. Gransden played the flumpet, a softer, mellower sound somewhere between trumpet and flugelhorn. This particular ...

George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic The Paramount Mardi Gras Madness Tour Huntington, NY February 18, 2018 George Clinton is the reigning Godfather Of Funk. The seventy-six-year-old singer, songwriter, bandleader, record producer and founder of the Parliament-Funkadelic collective continues to tour and put his stamp on contemporary music. In fact, Clinton won his first-ever Grammy Award in 2016, for his work with Kendrick Lamar on the To Pimp A Butterfly album (Top Dawg/Aftermath/Interscope, 2015). ...

Kraftwerk Boris Trajkovski Hall Skopje, Macedonia February 27, 2018 Definitely, we live in a world that was envisioned and shaped by the music and aesthetic created by the German band Kraftwerk. Ever since this enigmatic collective rose to popularity in the mid-'70s, it went to fashion a pure electronic aesthetic which encompassed all aspects of modernity. Each of their albums became a complete concept in its own right, from motorways to trains, from radios ...

Anat Fort Quartet Cornelia Street Café New York, NY February 20, 2018 It's easy (and tempting) to think of a great musicians working together like cogs in a well-oiled machine, but when basking in the waves of pianist Anat Fort and her quartet with altoist Michaël Attias, bassist Gary Wang, and drummer Rudy Royston in the intimacy of the Cornelia Street Café, it was impossible to think of them as anything less than ...

At this time in my life, I'm finally able to express myself through jazz as I have always wanted by becoming fully immersed in the music and lyrics. I love performing American Jazz
Standards and surrounding myself with world class musicians

At this time in my life, I'm finally able to express myself through jazz as I have always wanted by becoming fully immersed in the music and lyrics. I love performing American Jazz
Standards and surrounding myself with world class musicians. There is no other feeling as fulfilling as performing jazz.